


Hostage

by Quiet_Shadow



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers Generation One
Genre: Angst, Implied Future Character Death, M/M, Past Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-10
Updated: 2013-01-10
Packaged: 2017-11-25 00:44:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,395
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/633283
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quiet_Shadow/pseuds/Quiet_Shadow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"I was a scientist, once, you know."<br/>As the war starts, young scientist Perceptor is being held hostage by a dangerous, unhinged looking Seeker who seems to have an old grudge against his teacher...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hostage

**Author's Note:**

> Another old fic of mine that I had hoped would turn into a larger fic or universe. Sadly, it stayed a oneshot.
> 
> Enjoy anyway :)

“I was a scientist, once, you know.”

Things were going badly. That was all the red and blue Autobot youngling could think about. Orns ago, he had been injured and captured in an ambush as he walked toward the complex where he worked as an Apprentice. The Academies were closed since the start of the war, and the only way to be educated was to attract the attention of one who had already graduated.

He had been very lucky to be among the few who could still follow an apprenticeship regularly.

Still, he wondered sometimes if catching the optics of his Master had been so rewarding. He tried very hard to please his teacher, who didn’t seem impressed by his hard work. And now, this mech, the red Seeker they called Starscream, was using him as bait for capturing or destroying his Master.

To make matters worse, the Seeker had started ranting. The youngling couldn’t even ask him to stop; he feared what the Decepticon would do if he dared to interrupt him. So he listened; so far, the Decepticon, who identified himself as a former student of the Iacon Science Academy, had spoke of his former partner and his tragic fate.

“They accused me of killing Skyfire. Not once did they listen to me. They blamed me and perhaps, somewhere, they were right. But what they did to me... I was scorned, belittled, insulted for orns. Then finally they judged me and cast me out, banning me from the Academy and everything I ever knew. I wasn’t even considered a scientist anymore. Try to imagine what it was for me; would you have stayed sane?”

The Autobot didn’t say anything. He just wondered if any of this was real, or just a plot or the rambling of an insane mech. Starscream continued pacing.

“I met him a vorn afterward. I was trying to survive by taking small jobs here and there when I met him, quite by accident... Unless it wasn’t one, but I can’t be sure until I ask him,” mused Starscream. The captive tried to move, only to scream in pain when a shot pierced his leg. Starscream emitted a ‘tsk’. “Stupid, really. You should stay quiet and still; it’s not you I want to kill today, but the pathetic slagger you call a teacher.”

“My Master is one of the greatest mind on Cybertron,” snarled the youngling, forgetting his fear for a breem.

“Your ‘Master’ is nothing more than a thief,” growled Starscream, optics blazing. “He wasn’t the one who did all that research; I did!” he screamed.

The Autobot shuddered; Starscream was utterly mad. How could he pretend to be the one who...? The Seeker laughed. “I can see you don’t believe me. No matter, really; I didn’t expected you to believe me. Nobody ever did,” he added mournfully.

Suddenly, the young Autobot felt uneasy. There was something in his captor’s voice...

“I had never planned to join a faction in the first place. I think I would have stayed a Neutral if not for my encounter with your Master. But in the end, I just couldn’t take it anymore. The hatred and snide comments were nothing new, I could have dealt with that without problems. But being used this way... never being believed by anyone... It was just too much,” he whispered.

Shaking his head as if to clear his thoughts, he continued. “I joined Megatron for revenge. I killed about everyone who had a hand in casting me out of the Academy. You can’t imagine how pleasant it was. I think I almost overloaded on the battlefield that day,” he said with a strange smile. The young Autobot felt disturbed by such an admission.

“Of the ones who wronged me when I was still young, hopeful and naive, your teacher is the only one left now. If he decides to come to get you, it will be our second encounter since he left me to rot,” Starscream grinned madly.

“He escaped you once; he can do it again,” said the young apprentice with less conviction than he felt.

Starscream smiled at the red mechling in front of him. Ah, young and innocent, this one. Brillant too, from what he saw. Pity he was so naive. Ah well, he would have to crush that. Better not let the kid believe stupid illusions anymore.

“It wasn't dumb luck as he claimed when Autobots 'rescued' him, if he escaped the purge in the first place. I just chose to let him go that day,” he explained patiently to his captive, who looked stunned.

“Why? Why did you let him live, if you hated him so much? If any of what you said was true?” asked the red and blue youngling.

Starscream looked sad for a second. “Because I could never had looked my sparkling in the optics again if I had killed his other creator,” he simply said. He smiled grimly as he saw the Autobot’s optics widening in shock. So, the little one was having a wake-up call?

“Oh yes, Autobot,” he said with glee. “He stole my works, but before that he seduced me, took me to his berth and threw me aside as soon as my research was finished. He didn’t even know I was carrying his sparkling at the time, but I doubt it would have stopped him anyway. Worst case scenario, he would have taken the sparkling away from me once he had emerged, chased me away and would never have allowed me to even see my creation ever again,” he finished, shrugging like if it didn’t bother him.

Except it did.

The apprentice was horrified. The Decepticon was lying; he had to be! His Master would never have committed such a vile act! To abandon a carrying mech without ressources... To steal another’s achievements... it just wasn’t possible.

But a nagging voice in the back of his CPU kept reminding him that his Master acted strangely sometimes. That he didn’t seem as competent as his previously published works seemed to indicate.

Starscream seemed to pick on his doubts. “What’s wrong, Autobot? Did you think he was Primus himself, that he had never done anything wrong in his life? Sorry to disappoint... or perhaps not.” He didn't look sorry indeed.

Perceptor looked at him closely. “If you spared him before... Why kill him now?” he asked softly, wanting to understand.

“Because now my sparkling is old enough to know the entire story, and he decided he wanted a gift from that father who abandonned us: his head as a dataweight. How could I not agree?” asked Starscream with a fond smile. The youngling shuddered. The sparkling – if he was still a sparkling at this point – was probably as insane as his creator.

But somewhere, he supposed he could sympathize. If anything that Starscream said was true, of course.

Starscream was pacing again. Casually, he glanced at his captive. “Of course, I hope you realize there is no guarantee he will come to save you; he was always on the cowardly side to begin with. Oh, don’t look at me that way,” he said to the Autobot who was looking at him with pursued lips. “I know I’m not the most courageous mech around, but I like to think I’m more crazy than cowardly. It sound better, I think.”

“He will come,” whispered the Autobot’s youngling. “He will come. He will save me...” If he repeated this mantra long enough, perhaps he would truly believe it. But doubts were still growing.

“You mean: he should have come by now," Starscream corrected him, after looking at his chronometer. "He should have been here a while ago. Looks like he’s late or has no intention to come. Why am I not even surprised?” sighed the red Seeker as he stopped walking. He took a good look at his captive. “You know, little one, you never told me your name.”

“Per... Perceptor,” whispered the youngling. “I’m Perceptor.” Starscream grinned and patted the smaller mech’s head gently. “Well Perceptor, I’m able to wait for your Master for five more joors. If by that time he isn’t here, I seriously don’t know what I will do with you.”

Perceptor offlined his optics and shuddered. Please, he began praying, please, let my Master not be the sparkless slagger Starscream said he was. Please...


End file.
